


Addict

by Souliebird



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, Mental Instability, Obsession
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-24
Updated: 2015-07-24
Packaged: 2018-04-11 00:00:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4413056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Souliebird/pseuds/Souliebird
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Nightwing jokingly referred to Red Robin as Red Hood’s partner after catching them working together, everything spiraled out of control for Jason.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Addict

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lazarusgreeneyes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lazarusgreeneyes/gifts).



> Happy birthday, bby ♥

It began with them circling each other. Among those who dared to venture into Red Hood's territory, Red Robin was the only one who never interfered with its on goings, beyond what he had come there to do. He stopped a few muggings or street brawls, but never intruded onto the area's inner workings. Park Row and the surrounding neighborhood's were Red Hood's, and Red Robin seemed to respect that. So, in turn, Red Hood avoided his patrol route unless his own business took him there, then he dealt only with that, and left.

It went on like that for months, until Black Mask tried to set up shop near the Knight's Dome, which neither Red Hood or Red Robin claimed as their own terrain, but both happened to be there on their own cases. They teamed up out of convenience and took down the operation before it had a leg to stand on. 

It occurred again and again, always by chance; both former Robins meeting around town and deciding it would benefit them both to work together, but never interacting on each others' turf. 

Until Red Robin dropped out of the sky and into the alley Red Hood was bleeding out in. The smaller man gathered up the larger vigilante and brought him to the nearest safehouse. If Red Hood hadn't been dazed from the pain medication Red Robin had injected him with, he would have been concerned about how the other not only knew where his safe house was, but how to get into it with no effort. 

Red Robin transformed into Tim and Red Hood into Jason. 

After coaxing Jason out of his armor, Tim patched Jason's wounds, talking to him in a soft, but matter of fact voice that was oddly soothing. As Jason drifted off to sleep, he saw Tim fetch a blanket from the closet, but was gone to the world by the time it was draped over him.

Jason awoke alone and with a new sense of appreciation for the man he occasionally worked with.

Nothing changed, expect it did, and Jason could not put his fingers on what it was. They still only met by chance, never talked outside of those times, but there was a difference between in the interactions; their exchanges were more light hearted. Red Robin would just smile when Red Hood threatened to shoot him, or cut his belly open, or whatever threat he could think of when something irked him. Jason could feel it in himself; the harsh words had no bite behind them, not anymore. They were said simply because that was what Red Hood would say, never with any intention of harming Red Robin. 

When Nightwing jokingly referred to Red Robin as Red Hood's partner after catching them working together, everything spiraled out of control for Jason. 

Red Robin was a good partner, but Jason's mind focused onto the word 'his'. His. He wanted Red Robin, for Tim, to be his. Jason had no idea what it even meant, what the context was, but the thought alone would spark a fire in his belly and would fill him with so much want his entire body would ache. 

He quickly became jealous and possessive. He would snarl and spit out harsh comments if Red Robin mentioned off handly working with someone else, and sometimes, if Jason was already in a bad mood, he would attack whoever his Red Robin had working with if he saw them while out. It did not take long for the other members of the Family to be convinced Jason had lapsed back into his overly violent and angry ways, or 'Pit Madness' as he had overheard Robin say. 

Jason's heart soared when he eavesdropped on a conversation between Red Robin and Oracle, where his lovely bird defended him, telling Oracle that the others must have done something to provoke Jason, because as far as Red Robin had seen, Red Hood was pretty sane. 

So Jason tried harder, put effort into actions he normally didn't think of so he could make his Red Robin, his Tim, proud of him. He knew Red Robin was more lenient towards violence, he had seen the small man smash someone's collar bone into pieces with his staff, but he still drew the line at killing. Jason began sending bullets into kneecaps and non-vital points of the thugs he took down when he was with Red Robin, and instead of snapping necks he started using nerve strikes. Soon Red Hood was only killing the worst of the worst and kept it localized to his territory. 

But it wasn't enough. The shock and small smiles gained when Jason first held himself back dwindled and Jason wanted more. He wanted interaction outside of beating up bad guys, he wanted his lovely bird to want to be around him as much as Jason wanted to be near Tim. 

Breaking the rules of their game seemed wrong to Jason, everything that had happened had been by chance, and now he was making a deliberate action. It took hours of planning, of following Red Robin through his patrols from the shadows, Jason's heart beating loudly in his ears over the thought of what if he was caught? It was the one thing that couldn't change in their dance; they stayed out of each other's territory, but Jason needed this. He couldn't rely on chance for his next encounter, his next smile. 

When Tim got towards the middle of his patrol route, when he was on the fringes of his territory, Jason removed his kris from his belt and stabbed himself in the left shoulder, slipping the blade between the breaks in his armor. He turned the handle of the knife, deepening and stretching the wound to the point where he knew he would require stitches for it to heal. He smeared the blood from the blade along his jacket and added some to his helmet for good measure, then allowed himself to bleed freely for a minute. 

Jason checked the time, then fired a series of shots at the wall of the alley he was in. 

A shadow passed over Jason as he holstered his gun, then Red Robin appeared behind him.

“Hood?” His voice alone made Jason shiver and grin and he was glad his helmet hid it. “What are you doing on this side of the river?” Jason understood the unsaid meaning as 'what are you doing in my neighborhood?' 

“Following a false lead. Turned out to be a trap.”

“You're hurt.” The concern made Jason's heart tighten in his chest and the want in his belly surge.

“A lucky strike.”

“It pierced your suit.”

“I noticed.” Red Robin's head moved just a fraction and Jason could tell the man was looking him up and down, accessing the damage. He then clicked his tongue, and jerked his head, motioning for Jason to follow him. It was a short flight to the nearest safe house, but by the time they arrived, Jason felt giddy. He blamed it on the blood loss. 

Tim's apartment was small, neat, and minimal and Jason thought it suited him perfectly. He looked around at the black and white photographs on the wall as Tim fetched the medical kit. When he returned, he clicked his tongue at Jason again.

“Take your top off.” Jason quickly shed his jacket, armor, and helmet, then sat obediently in front of Tim, between his legs. 

“Did you take those pictures?” Jason asked as Tim leaned over him, inspecting the self inflicted wound. 

“Hmm? Oh. Yeah. They are pretty old, though. Hold still, this is going to hurt.” 

Jason clenched his jaw and hissed through his teeth as Tim began to clean the wound. He was given a small warning before the surrounding muscle was injected with anesthetic. As they waited for the drug to kick in, Jason craned his neck to look back at the framed work.

“How'd you get a clear shot of the moon from the docks?” 

“How'd you know it's from the docks?” 

Jason chuckled and looked over his shoulder at Tim, grinning. “The silhouette of the bridge is pretty distinct, even in shadow.” 

Tim returned Jason's smile, though not as wide, and shrugged. “A storm had just come through, cleared out all the smog. Can you feel this?” Tim pressed his fingers into Jason's shoulders, just above the wound. He could feel the pressure, but there was no pain or warmth that came from skin on skin contact. A whine almost escaped Jason's throat, because he wanted to feel his bird. Instead he forced it down and shook his head. 

Jason closed his eyes as Tim worked on sewing him shut, enjoying the silence and the closeness. He could smell the sweat on the younger's skin, could hear him breathing, and it soothed the chaos that Jason's mind was often in. He wanted this all the time, just to be with Tim, not in the heat of battle. Jason had read the files that the Cave and Oracle had on Tim Drake, had them memorized. He knew Tim's fighting style and tactics, knew all of his statistics by heart and his personal history. But it wasn't enough.

He wanted to get to know the man beyond his vigilante persona; to know if Tim preferred chocolate or vanilla ice cream, how he took his coffee, what type of books he read, the personal things that made Tim uniquely Tim. Things he would have to learn by being around Tim, which caused problems.

Because Jason didn't know how to interact outside of being a vigilante. Since he had come back from the dead, that was all Jason had known. Down time was spent sleeping, or rereading one of the hundreds of books he owned, not hanging out with others. Jason knew why Red Robin worked with Red Hood, but he couldn't see why Tim would want to be around Jason. Tim had actual friends, people who made him laugh; people who hadn't tried to actively kill him in the past. There was absolutely no reason for Tim to want to spend time with Jason.

Beyond patching him up, that was. Jason knew, though, that that was not something he could allow too often. Such injuries suggested a sloppiness and no one wanted to work with someone who was prone to needing to be stitched back up. 

The thought of Jason being the one to tend to Tim crossed his mind for a moment before he almost growled at himself. He didn't want Tim to be hurt in anyway. It didn't matter if Jason knew that Tim would turn to others before looking to Jason for that type of help, he wanted his little bird as safe as he could be. 

As Tim finished the last of the stitches, Jason heard a very familiar crackle and computerized voice come from Tim's ear piece. Tim sighed, his hot breath hitting the back of Jason's neck and making the hairs on his arm stand up. 

“I'm needed back at the Cave. Are you going to be alright?” Jason scowled, but nodded. Tim completed his work, then left the apartment without another word. 

Jason took his time in putting his shirt back on, pretending Tim had just gone to the other room, that he was still in the apartment. When he couldn't delay any longer, knowing Tim would know how much time it took from him to leave, Jason put on his helmet and made his way to the window. He paused, turned, and snatched the frame photograph of the moon over the Gotham skyline from the wall and shoved in into his jacket before fleeing to the safety of his own loft. 

Jason kept the photograph in his bedside drawer and it became the symbol of his ever growing addiction to Tim. He needed him; the sharp smiles, the wit, the brilliance the younger man had. Jason got a high from seeing the smaller vigilante twirl with his bo staff and the nights Red Robin favored just a domino mask over his cowl where Jason's favourites. 

Jason began to neglect his nightly duties in favor of crossing town to stalk Red Robin through the shadows. He enjoyed the irony of it; that Tim had been the one to stalk Jason for so long and now their roles were reversed. 

Red Hood purposely began to disrupt things in the city, causing gangs to start fights in various districts, just on the off chance that Red Robin would be the one to respond to the calls. 

Each interaction, each acknowledgment was like a fix, and Jason needed something bigger each time. 

It was a warm night, far too warm for his heavy leather jacket, when Jason was debating breaking the rules; going to Tim inside his patrol route. Jason was hungry, he couldn't remember the last time he had eaten, and thought maybe, Tim would be, too. It was still early enough for some of the late night diners to be open and Jason knew Tim had stopped patrol to get food before. He had seen Nightwing swoop in and convince Red Robin to get hotdogs before. 

Jason was creating an excuse to be in the area when there was a soft thud behind him. Jason whirled around, his eyes going wide behind his helmet at seeing Red Robin standing on the ledge of the roof.

“You've been following me.” The tone was angry, accusing. 

Jason felt his throat go dry; he didn't know what to do. He didn't want Tim to send him away. He wanted the opposite; Jason wanted to wrap him up and bring him back to his loft. He wanted to keep him away from Gotham and the others, to have Tim as his own, and only his. He knew that wasn't allowed though, it would make Tim miserable to be caged and Jason very much wanted to make Tim happy. But his obsession with his little bird was so intense that he didn't know what he would do if he was barred from interacting with him. He didn't know if he would lash out, do something he would regret if he was told he could no longer be by Tim's side. 

“Why?” 

Jason's heart began to pound loudly in his ears as panic began to set in. All he could think of was Tim being furious with him, disappointed in him, and Jason's mouth worked before his mind could tell it not to.

“Ice cream.”

“What?” The anger was gone, replaced with confusion. Red Robin's stance relaxed and Tim's body language began to seep out.

“It's hotter than balls out, do you want to go get some ice cream?” 

Tim stared at Jason from behind his domino mask and Jason could feel his fingers begin to twitch as he waited for a response. Dread began to fill him, because he had ruined this, he had broken the rules of the game and Tim was going to send him away, never want to work with him again, and he would-

“Okay.”

“What?” It was Jason's turn to stare because he must have misheard the younger.

“I said okay. Yeah. It's pretty dead tonight, too hot for anyone to come out unless Freeze decides to be generous and give us some relief from this heat wave. I've got a bunch of pints in my freezer, or did you want to go to a creamery?” 

Jason was still reeling from the fact Tim wasn't angry with him that he didn't hear much of what he had said, so he just nodded. Tim chuckled under his breath, then motioned with his hand for Jason to follow.

“My place it is. You know, if you wanted to hang out, you could have just asked. The past few nights I honestly thought you were going to try and murder me or something. I've been on edge since I caught you lurking.” 

“I wouldn't hurt you.” Jason said automatically, his filter still not quite working. Tim smiled at him and all the anxiety and doubt clouding Jason's mind evaporated. 

“I might want you to hurt me a little bit.” Tim's voice had a slight tease to it that made Jason's stomach clench in want he followed after smaller man like an eager puppy. 

“Do you like chocolate or vanilla ice cream?” Jason couldn't help but ask, needing to know the answer now, to get his fix for something bigger than he had had before. 

“Neither, I prefer coffee or English toffee.”


End file.
